I Sense You Here
by Giant Nickel
Summary: With his body restored, Ed can now bask in the glories of adolescence and hormones. His five senses are in for a major overload when he returns to Resembool to find Winry all grown up and waiting for him...Companion piece to I Sense You There.
1. Sight

_Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of the characters therein...but boy, do I wish I did!_

**A/N:** _So here it is, the companion piece to_ I Sense You There. _While this piece will be similar to the previous one where each chapter will have one of the five senses as its central theme, there will be much more romance and good ol' fluff in these oneshots._ I Sense You There _was meant to show the budding romance between Ed and Winry._ I Sense You Here _is meant to see their strong attraction come to fruition. _

_Enjoy!_

* * *

**Sight**

There really was nothing more beautiful in the world, Winry decided, as she stared down at the bed. Alphonse Elric, back in his own skin, was tucked snugly between the cotton sheets, his eyes closed as he slept. With unblinking blue eyes, Winry watched the slow easy rise and fall of the boy's chest, unbelieving of just how much she had missed watching him breathe.

He _could_ breathe.

He could sleep and dream and eat and touch and smell…he was whole.

It had been nearly a month ago when Winry had received a delightfully exhausted phone call from Edward, informing her through yawns and sighs that the Promised Day had been stopped, that the homunculi and their creator were dead, that Van Hohenheim was also dead and that both he and Al had been returned to their original bodies.

No more suit of armor.

No more automail arm and leg.

When Winry had asked why Ed sounded so tired he told her that he and Al were in the hospital recovering and that he was full of all sorts of strange drugs that were keeping him drowsy. When Winry had yelled at Ed, demanding why he would strain himself for something so stupid as calling her, he responded with a simple '_I wanted to tell you that we're alright…and that we're coming home_'.

It was the first time Ed had called to tell her he was coming home.

Winry started baking apple pie that evening.

Naturally, the happy homecoming was delayed. It seemed that wherever Al's body had been for the last five years it had suffered without a soul, having become terribly emaciated, the bones of his ribs sticking out disturbingly against his weak pink flesh. The Central doctors kept the boy under strict observation, pumping his body with a steady supply of nutrients as well as conducting several tests to assure that all of his organs were functioning properly. As for Ed, his right arm and left leg were returned to him horribly malnourished and suffering from atrophy so his muscles were given regular electric shocks, steroids, and a great deal of physical therapy.

Both Ed and Al called Winry everyday, promising that the day of their arrival was soon in coming and Winry would soothe their worries by assuring them that she wasn't angry that they weren't able to come home sooner and that getting well again should be their first priority.

The extended wait only made their eventual return that much more exciting.

It had been a thrill to see the brothers, Ed walking a little unsteadily and Al perched on his brother's back, making their way up the dirt road towards the welcoming yellow Rockbell house. Winry had rushed out happily to meet them, her wrench, so often used to welcome Ed home, had fallen in the grass as Winry hurried to hug the brothers, her arms stretching out to grab both Ed and Al. The younger Elric laughed aloud and grasped for Winry's head, his fingers getting lost in her blond hair, his lips kissing her brow as tears traveled down his cheeks.

Ed, of course, had blustered and complained throughout the reunion, partly because he was caught in the middle but mostly because Winry's breasts were pressed rather distractingly against his chest. When Winry released Al she immediately took Ed's right arm in her hands and forcefully pulled up his sleeves, letting loose a delighted squeal when she touched warm pale skin.

The way she had looked up at him, her eyes fairly sparkling, her face tinted pink with a tell-tale smudge of grease on her nose, and her mouth open just a little as she took in great gulps of cool air, Ed was terribly tempted to kiss her.

And why not?

After all, she wasn't in danger anymore and part of the reason he had spent five years away from home was so he could come back to her…be with her…

The moment was perfect, and it was perfectly ruined when Pinako approached the trio, a wheelchair before her and Den barking excitedly at her heels, effectivly destroying the mood. Al, naturally, began to bounce up and down, causing Ed's back to crack in his exuberance. Soon Al was placed in the wheelchair, Pinako pushing him up the path and Den furiously sniffing and licking Al as they went. Winry had laughed, the sun catching her hair in such a way that it appeared that the rays were trapped between the strands. She quickly took Ed's hand – his right hand – in hers and pulled the elder Elric along.

After tea and sweet-cakes Pinako announced that she would be making stew for dinner, much to Ed's delight, and that the three friends could sit and catch up. It had surprised Winry immensely when, as soon as Pinako was out of earshot, both Al and Ed began to tell her everything from the moment they decided to return their mother from the grave until they found themselves standing at the Gate and finally put an end to their quest. The story was long and terrifying and there were times Winry wished they wouldn't tell her the details, but after being left in the dark for so long she couldn't help being touched by their desperate need to share everything with her.

They had barely finished their tale when Pinako called them for dinner.

Supper was a grand affair, not only with a heaping feast but also with several Resembool residences peeking in on the group. They claimed to be checking to see if it was true that the Elrics had returned, but as everyone who came was offered a plate of their own, Ed became convinced that everyone was trying to get their greedy hands on the stew that was rightfully his.

After all, he'd earned it dammit!

Ed's temper quickly bottomed out, however, when he noticed that Al was nearly passing out in his food. Even though Al had been returned to his body it was as if he had been in a coma for five years and so was still rather frail and not able to keep food down very easily nor stay awake at great lengths or handle too much excitement. Worried for his brother, Ed roughly pushed all of the visitors out of the Rockbell kitchen, much to Winry and Pinako's chagrin, and carried his brother up to their old bedroom.

Al fell asleep in his brother's arms long before he was ever placed under the warm cotton sheets.

It was well after midnight when Winry found herself looking up from Al's sleeping form as Ed entered the room, a slice of cold apple pie in his hands.

"Another one, Ed? You've eaten three quarters of the whole pie." Winry commented.

Ed just rolled his eyes and took a seat beside her, their chairs so close together their knees were pressing against each other.

"Well, you did make if for me, right? Besides, you make good pie."

"Was that a compliment?" Winry asked with great surprise.

"Why not?" Ed responded as he chomped on a mouthful of pie.

"Well, you've never complimented me before."

"What?" Ed hollered, crumbs spilling from his mouth. Winry gave Ed a smack on the chest and an annoyed glower as she jerked her head in Al's direction. Checking quickly to be sure his brother was still sleeping, Ed returned his own annoyed stare to the girl sitting beside him. "What do you mean I never compliment you?"

"Well, you don't."

"Didn't I say your apple pie was delicious back…well, before." Ed stated, not wanting to put words to that horrible time in their past.

"You were just saying that to comfort me." Winry explained.

"How the hell would you know why I say anything?" Ed demanded. "I may have been trying to make you feel better, but I still meant the compliment."

"Really?"

"I wouldn't have said it if I didn't." Ed grumbled as he took another bite of pie. "I also told you, you were the best automail mechanic in the country."

"You've never told me that!" Winry exclaimed, her cheeks going pink at his admission. When Ed seemed to realize what he had confessed, his cheeks also began to flush, but he tried to keep casual and slumped in his chair as he munched on his slice of pie.

"Didn't I? Well, I know I've said it before and I meant to tell you, so I guess I'm telling you now."

Winry couldn't help staring at Ed, her jaw dropping just a little as she watched him nonchalantly eat his pie…his lips rubbing together…his tongue darting out to catch the crumbs on his chin…

"What are you staring at, woman?" Ed asked, his voiced sounding gruff and uncomfortable. He always hated it when she stared at him.

"I was just thinking that you'd better start watching your diet." Winry answered quickly. She fidgeted in her chair, feeling utterly foolish for how she was acting. True, she was in love with Edward Elric and had been for a long time, but really, daydreaming about his lips and tongue…

It was natural, Winry knew this, but it still felt terribly awkward to think of her and Ed kissing…touching…making out…making lo-

"What's wrong with my diet?" Ed demanded, dragging Winry away from her amorous thoughts.

The young woman sighed, wishing Ed would just shut up so that she could indulge herself in her fantasies that were really quite new and thrilling no matter how awkward she might feel about them later. However, having over-indulgent hormone induced daydreams about your true love who just happened to be your best friend, who just happened to be sitting so close to you your knees were touching, might not be the most opportune time or place. Instead, Winry did what she always did when she was flustered around Ed.

She teased him.

"Well, Ed, now that you're no longer eating for yourself and Al, I would think that you'd cut down on the pigging-out. But since you've been here you've eaten half a pot of stew, nearly a dozen buns, two pieces of sweet-cake, half a plate of string beans and nearly one whole apple pie. I bet you were stuffing your face at the Central hospital, too."

"What are you trying to say, Winry?" Ed growled as he stuffed the rest of his pie in his mouth with cocky defiance. Winry smirked and gave Ed's belly a few gentle pats.

"Is that a spare tire I feel?" she inquired innocently, her voice full of mirth. In truth, him sitting beside her, his hair askew and unwashed, his shirt dotted with dried gravy, with his right arm resting on the back of his chair and the toes of his left foot drumming against the wooden floor, Ed had never looked better.

"Shut up!" You don't know what you're talking about." Ed snorted.

"Hmm…I see Al sleeps just as deeply as you. You know," Winry whispered as she leaned over the bed to stroke Al's fine hair, "I'd forgotten how much you two look alike. Same hair, same eyes and nose…same snore."

"Pft!" Ed sighed, even as his eyes traveled to the bed to watch his brother sleep. "Even after a month, sometimes I can't believe we did it…but then I look at him and it's like the last five years have just been one long nightmare and now we're finally awake. You know, we couldn't have done it without your help." Ed whispered.

"But I was made a hostage to keep you both in line. How was that helpful?" Winry wondered.

Ed was quiet for a moment, watching as Winry's fingertips played with Al's short hair. He felt his chest swell as he watched the two most important people in his life, both alive and well and happy. It was an image that he wanted to engrave into his memory just has he had engraved that personal message into his pocket watch, so that he would never forget this moment.

Winry's face was so gentle and calm and Ed was so used to seeing her either angry or sad that he had almost forgotten just how soft his friend could appear. He noticed differences though, having not taken the time to truly study her face since those long hours of recovery from automail surgery five years ago. Gone was the childhood roundness of her cheeks and chin to be replaced with defined curves that gave her a more mature, womanly appearance. Her nose, always rather cute, was still cute, but a little more pointed, a little sharper. Her blue eyes were still large and shinning, but the lashes were longer, darker, and curled just so.

Then there was her mouth…Ed wasn't so sure he should be thinking about her mouth or lips or tongue because that would cause his brain to simply shut down and be led down the path of hormonal indulgence and while that would certainly be a wonderful way to pass the time, there would be time for that later. Right now, Ed had to get a few of the more important issues out of the way so that there would no longer be anymore misunderstandings between himself and Winry.

"You were more helpful than you realize, Winry." Ed said softly.

"How?" she persisted, refusing to be satisfied until Ed answered her properly.

Ed couldn't help smirking at Winry, taking another moment to admire her as she stroked his brother's hair.

"You gave us a place to come home to."

Winry looked up at Ed, her expression one of gentle shock. Taking one long quivering breath, she finally succumbed to the one thing she had been fighting ever since Ed had called her from Central hospital one month ago.

Ed had nearly jumped out of his chair when he saw the tell-tale glimmer of tears build up in the corners of Winry's blue eyes before the salty water slid in thick lines down her cheeks. Immediately, he began to panic, berating himself for saying anything to the girl next to him in the first place. This was why he was never very nice to her.

Nice meant tears and tears meant bad.

Still, Ed felt that since he was the one to make Winry cry he should try to comfort her. Even though he couldn't figure out why she would cry over him being nice to her, Ed swallowed his pride, as well as his nerves, and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Tears, Winry? Why?"

"Tears of joy, Ed." Winry managed to croak out through her blubbering. Dumbfounded, Ed leaned forward and used his left hand to wipe Winry's tears away, his face a contorted expression of concern and his golden eyes glowing with hope.

Winry sniffed loudly before taking Ed's hand in hers and pressing his warm ungloved palm against her cheek.

She adored the hot blush that made his nose seem to glow.

"These are tears of happiness, Ed." she explained as she nuzzled her cheek against his palm, her tears pressing into her skin and dampening the flesh. "Just like you promised."

That night, Ed and Winry kept vigil over Al's slumbering form. The younger Elric woke up the next morning with the dawn, chuckling to himself when he saw his older brother and their best friend asleep at his bedside, their arms around one another, Winry's head slumped against Ed's shoulder and Ed's head nuzzled in Winry's long blond hair.

It was good to be home.

* * *

_So, now that everything's over for Ed and Al, Edward can finally focus on his love life or, and perhaps more importantly, that funny tingly feeling he gets inside whenever he's near Winry._

_Basically, this chapter has set up that the feelings Ed and Winry have had for each other before are still present and stronger than ever. The next chapter will show Ed taking some action to appease his longing heart and frustrated libido._

_Reviews are greatly welcomed and appreicated. No flames, please and thank you!_

**Giant Nickel**


	2. Sound

_Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist, I'm just a really big fan!_

**A/N:** _So this chapter is a little steamier than I anticipated and had to be severely edited to satisfy my 'T' rating. I feel that, since it's been clearly established that Ed and Winry love each other, it's time to tackle the passionate side of their relationship rather than the romantic. This chapter is devoted to the developing lustful feelings that the teenagers are beginning to have and the following chapters will continue to explore the sexual tension between the pair. Love and lust are two sides of the same coin, and all of us have to learn to deal. This is how Ed and Winry might choose to do so. _

* * *

**Sound**

Alphonse Elric's laughter tinkled like bells over the hills of Resembool accompanied in harmony by the outraged cursing of his older brother. It was a sound that had not been heard in the quiet mountain village for many years and Winry couldn't contain her own chuckles when she looked up from her automail sketches and discovered what all of the comotion was about.

Al was perched on a large flat stone in the little river, his feet dangling in the cool water. It had been about six weeks since the Elric brother's had returned from Central, their quest complete and their bodies restored. Being back in his hometown seemed to grant Al a great boost of strength. When he had first arrived he had been unable to walk, relying on Ed to get him where they needed to go. Like his older brother, however, Al was proving to be quick to recover, now able to take short tentative steps if the distance was not too great, like a newborn fawn.

Ed and Winry were with Al every step of the way, encouraging his physical therapy. It was why they were at the river on the first warm day of early summer. The buoyancy of Al's body in the water would make it possible for the fifteen year old stretch and use muscles that he was still too weak to focus on during his normal therapy. After about an hour of exercising with his brother, Al had decided that he would rather sun bathe on the large flat rock while Ed tried to catch their lunch.

The most Ed had managed to do, however, was to get himself bit by a fish. Enraged at the animal's audacity, Ed proceeded to splash after the fish, making a spectacle of himself much to Al's delight. The boy was laughing so hard that his face was horribly blotched and he was holding his stomach to ease the pain of his uproarious chortles.

"Here, Brother." Al insisted jovially, holding out a hand and indicating that he wanted the fishing rod. Stomping towards his younger brother, Ed practically threw the stick into Al's lap.

"It's impossible!" Ed roared.

"No it's not. Go on the shore with Winry and I'll catch lunch." Al instructed.

"And just what makes you think you'll catch anything?" Ed demanded.

"Because I was always better at this than you." Al answered as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. He couldn't help chuckling at Ed's irritated expression, nor did he miss the words 'get you back' as Ed wadded towards the shore, hefting himself out of the river and plodding over to the blanket that Winry had spread out and was currently lounging on.

"Move over." Ed demanded as he collapsed beside her.

Winry threw Ed an irritated stare but instead she heard her breath catch as she looked down at her friend. He was stretching out beside her in nothing but his boxer shorts, letting the sun warm his damp skin. Winry gulped, unable to help the flood of torrid sexual fantasies that attacked her overactive imagination.

Ed had a fabulously flawless body.

It hadn't taken Ed very long to build up the muscles of his restored arm and leg. To look at him now, defined bicep and sinewy calf, one would never know he had been deprived of the limbs for five years. They were sleek and strong and balanced his body out quite nicely.

It wasn't just his arms and legs, though.

Winry had seen Ed in various states of undress all of her life. She had seen him with his shirt off, in his underwear, even naked. She was so used to seeing his body that it had never occurred to Winry to actually stop and _look_ at Ed when all of his skin was bared before her.

This situation was so very different from ones in the past.

They weren't in the workshop, or a hospital or in the operating room. They were outside on a sunny afternoon, enjoying each other's company, and Ed was _right there_ looking sexy as hell as he pushed his arms over his head, letting out a contented sigh as the bones cracked and the muscles tightened. Winry began to chastise herself for never taking the time to appreciate just how much Ed had grown...to admire how much of a man he had become.

Now she was taking all of the time that a lazy afternoon provided, her eyes hungrily roving over Ed's chest, the pectorals smooth and firm with the lightest dusting of blond hairs curling in the centre, his nipples dark and erect as the cool breeze chilled them, his abdomen contracting as he took in breath after breath, another trail of blond hairs leading away from his bellybutton and disappearing into his boxer shorts…

And he was wet…very, very, tantalizingly wet.

Winry had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep the pained groan that was building up at the back of her throat safely behind her tightly closed lips.

He was gorgeous!

He was laying beside her, his body nothing but a valley of muscle and taut tanned skin with water droplets glistening in the sunlight, his eyes closed in complete relaxation and his lips pressed in a cocky grin…the idiot was just asking to get his bones jumped!

Winry was not ignorant, but she had never quite understood the expression 'sex on legs' until this very moment as she appraised Ed with the eye, not of a young girl, but of a young woman whose body was very aware of another, masculine body beside her.

In that moment, Winry came to a reality-shattering epiphany.

She wanted Edward Elric.

She wanted him so badly that she found herself leaning towards him, lips pursed, fingers itching to touch that distracting chest and discover if the skin was as soft as it looked and holding her breath as she came closer and closer to Ed's lips.

She was a hair's breath away when Ed's golden eyes suddenly snapped open, boring into her half-lidded blue ones with questioning accusation.

"Winry! What the hell are you doing?!" he asked. Though the words thundered in both of their ears, Ed had merely whispered them through a gasp, his sweet smelling breath brushing through Winry's bangs.

The young woman was stunned and terribly irritated.

She wasn't upset that she had been caught in the act, but she was furious that she had allowed herself to get carried away with her feelings. True, she loved Ed and did want to be with him but she had no idea how the temperamental genius alchemist felt about her and really, Al was only ten feet away fishing off a rock. Now was not the time or place.

"Idiot." Winry scolded herself softly.

So much had been happening in the last year that she'd never really had the time or inclination to work out her feelings. She knew she loved Ed but had never once considered that lust might be part of the package. In the last six weeks that the brothers had been living with Winry and her grandmother the young mechanic felt as if she was in a constant state of fever whenever Ed was in the same room with her. She had suspected an onslaught of hormones, which was normal, but not this consuming fire that made her want to moan in frustration.

Love was easy.

Lust sucked.

Quickly returning to her sitting position and hiding her face in her sketchbook, Winry refused to look at Edward until she regained control of her traitorous body.

Ed stared up at his friend, his golden eyes blinking incessantly as he tried in vain to process what had almost happened. His brain, however, had completely shut down, only replaying the image of Winry hovering over him, her lips almost touching his…

When it came to alchemy, Edward Elric was the best. In mere seconds he could break down complex matter into its elemental forms, reconfigure them in his head and rebuild them to his desires. It was second nature to Ed and he felt comfortable in his knowledge and skill. Little frightened him and whenever faced with a challenge Ed dove in head first.

Women, on the other hand, terrified Ed and none frightened him more than the lithe blond sitting next to him. Hawkeye might be able to read him better than most and Teacher might be able to beat him into a pulp, but neither of those women caused Ed's breath to catch or his skin to flush or his heart to nearly beat out of his chest. Only Winry could do that to him, and her stunt from moments ago left Ed feeling helpless and confused, emotions which he really hated.

Ed also hated the tightness that attacked him every time Winry was near, and he was feeling that annoying constraint as he looked at his childhood friend with wide, curious eyes. She was sitting beside him, her face buried in a book, wearing nothing but a sleeveless pink top and those damn denim cutoffs that showed off so much leg that Ed had to restrain himself from simply drooling on the spot.

The girl had no idea the affect she had on him. While Ed may have been greatly occupied over the last several years with one personal agenda after another, Winry had always been there in the back of his mind, reminding him of why he tried so hard.

All of his efforts led back to her.

Ed had decided six weeks ago that, now that his quest was complete and he had left the military, it was the perfect time to let his feelings for Winry be known. The trouble was that most people knew how he felt about Winry, except for the blond mechanic herself, and actually _telling_ her was proving to be more difficult than fighting a homunculus.

Ed was a man of action, not a man of pretty words like a certain bastard President Asshole, and so the sixteen year old was left with the difficult task of showing Winry how he felt about her. Unfortunately, bringing her dinner in her workshop, taking Den for walks and alchemizing floral crowns for her were proving to do little in informing Winry of his affection.

He would have to be more daring.

Winry's face was still safely concealed by her sketchbook, her mind not on the mock blueprints of an automail hipbone, but entirely focused on the boy beside her. Winry's senses were in such a state of sensitive overdrive that she nearly fainted when two legs came around her, flanking her and keeping her secured before a hard body.

"Ed?" she squeaked, not trusting herself to actually turn around and face him.

"Hold still." he ordered as he raised his hands until his fingers were pressing firmly into Winry's shoulders, hoping that she didn't notice how he was trembling. Winry, meanwhile, was hoping Ed hadn't noticed the shudder that shook her body when his still damp hands touched her warm skin.

She dropped her sketchbook.

"Ed, what are you doing?" Winry asked breathlessly as her friend's strong fingers began to press and mould her skin. She knew exactly what it was Ed was doing, but she needed to hear him say it to know that she wasn't hallucinating.

"I'm giving you a massage." he answered quietly, focusing all of his concentration into the way his fingers played across her skin, taking note of any knot that needed to be worked. "I figured you could use it."

Winry gritted her teeth, wishing she had the courage to tell Ed that his massage was actually making her even more tense. All she could think about was the fact that Ed was touching her. It wasn't a hug or a pat on the back or even the comforting weight of his large palm on the crown of her head. It was his fingers, calloused and rough, with the power to perform alchemy with the mere touch of tip to tip, working at the stress in her neck and shoulders, diligently seeking to relax her.

She wished his fingers would massage her in other places.

That single thought was the last straw.

Winry could no longer contain it, and with rushed vivid fantasies of Ed and fingers and skin and lips assaulting her imagination, she let loose a moan that shook her body to its core and caused Ed to halt his ministrations.

Ed was stunned and more than a little aroused by the sensual mewling that escaped from Winry, his ears memorizing the sound and his mind imprinting just what it was he had done that made Winry make that lovely moan. It was inspiring, though what the moan had inspired left Ed blushing like a fool as he tried to continue with the massage as if he was not consumed by the noises Winry was making.

A groan.

A sigh.

A soft mewling that reminded him of a purring cat…

And then she reclined, her body falling against him, trapping his hands between his chest and her back, her head coming to rest on his shoulder, her face turning in to nuzzle his neck.

Ed was frozen, so unsure of what to do that he simply sat there and let Winry rest against him.

She sighed loudly, her breath tickling his skin, the sound making his body tense and burn.

"Thanks Ed." she whispered, maneuvering herself so that she fitted more comfortably against him. Ed croaked a reply, his ears ringing with the beat of his own heart and the distant tinkling laughter of Alphonse.

* * *

_Wow! Things are getting hot!_

_Reviews are welcomed and greatly appreciated. No flames, please and thank you!_

**Giant Nickel**


	3. Smell

_Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Ed or Winry. If I did, however, this might be how I bring those two together._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

**Smell**

"Come on, Ed. Stop sulking." Winry pleaded.

"I'm not sulking." Ed retorted childishly as he played with his mashed potatoes, watching the butter melt on top of the fluffy mounds before melting into yellow rivers and collecting into a pool on his plate. Even the mouth-watering aroma of roast beef and gravy couldn't put Ed into better spirits.

"You're such a big baby. So Al's…"

"Don't say it!" Ed hollered, pushing back from the table and scrunching his features into a menacing contortion.

Winry, as always, did not cower.

"So Al's taller than you. It's no big deal." she said flippantly. Her words, naturally, left Ed ranting, his body twisting as if in agony and his fingers pulling at his loose hair.

"This is so unfair! I can't believe the injustice. He's my _younger_ brother, he's not supposed to be taller than me! My head barely reaches his shoulders!" Ed lamented, banging his head on the table, his untouched dinner plate clanking with each resounding thud of his head.

"Stop that!" Winry ordered. "And you're exaggerating. You reach Al's nose which means he's only about three inches taller."

"Three gigantic inches." Ed whined, his face buried in the hard wood.

"Besides, if you wear your lifts in your boots, which you have been doing since you became a State Alchemist – and don't try to deny it! – you'd be only about an inch-and-a-half shorter. That's not so bad." Winry reasoned.

"It's still shorter. It's all your fault, Winry!"

"How is your height deficiency my fault?!" Winry demanded, startled when she thought she spied hurt in Ed's large golden eyes. It quickly vanished, though, and was replaced with anger.

"The automail!"

"Don't go there, Edward." Winry warned as she stood up from her chair, glowering at her friend.

As usual, Ed didn't heed the warning.

"Yep, it was all the fault of the automail. Your automail was heavy and it weighed me down so my body wouldn't grow right an now it won't grow at all!"

"You jerk!" Winry cried, her voice so shrill Den actually cowered out of the room. Before Ed could react, indeed, before he realized the gravity of what it was he had said, a plate went whizzing across the table and slapped the sixteen year old squarely in the face.

"Dammit! Winry!" Ed called when the plate fell and smashed into pieces around his bare feet.

"You stupid ass." the young woman cried as she stormed out of the room towards her workshop. Ed cringed when he heard the workshop door slam so hard it sounded as if the hinges had broken.

Winry was mad.

Looking around at the mess of glass around his feet, Ed rubbed the heel of his palms against his closed eyelids, groaning at the mess he had made with his careless insult.

"Fuck." he grumbled as he came to the realization that he had really screwed things up. He hadn't meant the automail comment, not really. His negative feelings towards his prosthetic limbs stemmed from his own feelings of self-pity and not from Winry's craftsmanship. He just really hated being short and, as usual, when confronted with his stunted height he went overboard and ended up hurting the last person he ever wanted to hurt.

As he set to using alchemy to restore the broken plate, Ed was thankful that Al and Auntie Pinako were not in the house to witness his stupidity, otherwise he would be subjected to the old woman's criticisms and Al's overbearing logic. Ed didn't need others to tell him that he had screwed up. He knew enough on his own.

Still, a part of Ed did wish that Al was around to talk to.

The younger Elric had started walking under his own strength for quite some time, only needing the aid of a cane to make his way around. Naturally, Al was walking as much as his body would allow, rediscovering the Resembool countryside. When the old woman had announced that she would be going to the train station to collect some tools she had ordered, Al had eagerly volunteered to go with her, even suggesting they leave a little earlier so they could eat at the town's lone inn and Al could reunite with some old friends.

That left Ed and Winry alone.

It really was the perfect opportunity to finally clear some of the sexual tension that had settled over the teenagers and what had Ed gone and done?

He'd fucked it up Edward Elric style.

Staring at this reflection in the plate he'd just alchemized, Ed knew he had to go to Winry and apologize.

'_Guess I have matured a little._' he thought as he trudged towards the back of the house where Winry's workshop was. '_Apologizing still sucks, though._'

Ed carefully opened the workshop door, noting that the top hinge had broken under Winry's furious force. It squeaked, betraying his entrance.

The hot smell of metal, oil and grease struck Ed like a slap in the face, as if the air itself was doing Winry's biding. It wasn't a nauseating or unpleasant odor, it was just so strong and encompassing that sometimes it fairly overwhelmed Ed so that he felt lightheaded. The fumes of burning metal caught Ed's attention and he looked towards the smallest of the work tables to discover Winry hunched over something, a fine line of grey smoke wafting lazily over her head.

Swallowing his pride and mentally rehearsing his apology, Ed took a few tentative steps into the room.

"I'm holding a soldering iron, Ed. I wouldn't get too close." Winry warned stonily.

"Well, you know I like to play with fire." Ed joked lamely as he continued to take shy steps towards her. "What are you building?"

"A motor for an ankle joint for one of my stupid heavy automail parts." Winry spat. "Seriously, Ed, go away."

"Winry…"

"Just because Al is growing up and you're having a tough time dealing with it doesn't mean you get to take it out on me." Winry lectured, her voice sounding wet and quivering.

Besides alchemy, the one thing that Ed did well was make Winry cry. And aside from automail, the one other thing Winry was an expert at was reading Ed. She knew, even before Ed realized it himself, that Al's growing independence was taking its toll on the elder Elric.

Ed hadn't believed that he would be bothered by Al getting better. In fact, he had been the one who cheered the loudest when Al was finally out of the wheelchair, off of the crutches, and relying solely on a cane. Soon, Al wouldn't need a walking aid at all, and after that…

After that, Al wanted to go to Xing. Not just to see Mei, the fifteen year old insisted as his face burned brightly, but to help with the finalization of the peace treaties between the clans. When that was finished, Al thought he might travel, see the world outside of Amestris, and after that he thought he might like to go to university and medical school.

Ed had been stunned when Al had revealed his plans. For so much of his life, Ed had lived for the moment. True, he always had a plan, and that plan was to retrieve his and his brother's original bodies, but for the most part, Ed's thought process did not wander too far into the future. Now, the sixteen year old was suddenly faced with days, months, years ahead of himself and he didn't have a plan.

Al had plans, and most of them didn't involve his brother.

"I guess…" Ed said softly as he came to stand a hair's-breath away from Winry's back, the smell of burning metal mingling with the faint sweet smell of her hair, "I've never had to do anything without Al before. Now he wants to leave me…"

"He just wants to go to Xing and see his psychotic little girlfriend for a few weeks and then spend a month or two seeing the world. That's nothing major, and now that he can do it you should be happy for him."

"Dammit, I am happy for him!" Ed roared, taking a cautious step back when Winry spun around to face him. Thankfully, she had released the soldering iron, but that didn't mean he was safe from her wrath. After all, the wrenches were just an arm's length away.

"What exactly is the problem, Ed, and don't say it's your height issues. It's really no big deal. I mean, you're taller than me now and you don't see me whining about it."

Ed opened his mouth, prepared to respond, when he realized that Winry was right.

He was taller than her.

In fact, he was nearly a head taller than her, her bright blond bangs reaching the tip of his chin.

Ed was stunned.

In all of the excitement of returning his body back to normal and coming home and watching Al heal, Ed hadn't ever bothered to notice that he was no longer the shortest of the three friends.

A grin of insurmountable joy spread across his face.

"Fullmetal geek." Winry grumbled, not appreciating the foolish happiness that was radiating from Ed at his discovery.

"Can't call me that anymore." Ed retorted proudly as he flashed her his right arm. "Besides, I was given an honorable discharge so I'm not part of the military anymore. I'm not a fullmetal anything"

"I'll just call you a jackass then." Winry grumbled under her breath. She was still furious with him. In all of their years together Winry had never seriously thrown an insult at Ed's alchemy because she knew it was his life's work. She had hoped that the idiot would show the same respect for her automail, but that didn't appear to be the case. "You know, that automail was to help you."

"I know that, Win, and I'm sorry. Your automail isn't heavy." Ed said, taking a small step closer to the fuming woman. "I'm a jerk. Forgive me?"

"Never." Winry retorted, the sudden scent of sweat and grass invading her senses. Ed always smelled of fresh cut grass, no matter the season or location. It was a calming scent under most circumstances, but with him so close…and the two of them all alone...

Winry felt her heart begin to beat faster.

"Hey, Win…" Ed drawled, and Winry finally noticed that there was barely an inch of space between them. She swallowed, hard, but it did little to alleviate the sudden dryness of her throat. She placed her hands on the edge of her worktable to brace herself for whatever Ed had planned. She hadn't expected him to lean in close, his chin softly resting upon her tense shoulder. Hot, moist breath caressed her neck, right where her pulse was beating erratically.

"Ed, what's up?" she managed to squeak out, not bothering to move away from her friend's inquisitive, and delightful, exploration.

"Have I ever told you that you smell good?" he asked, leaning further into her, his arms reaching out to brace himself against the worktable, effectively trapping Winry within his embrace.

"Ed, what's wrong with you?" Winry demanded, though her voice quaked when Ed's lips took the place of his chin against her shoulder. "This isn't like you at all."

"Can't a guy say a girl smells nice?"

"Sure, a guy can, but this is you…and me."

"I've always thought you smelled nice, Winry. I just never told you." Ed answered, each word causing his lips to brush just wonderfully against her flushed skin.

"So, why are you telling me now?"

Ed paused, his nose still delightfully inhaling the sweet flowery scent of Winry's shampoo. He had recalled this scent often in his years of traveling across the country, never admitting how much he had missed it, or how much comfort he found in it, until this lonely charged moment. Ed could admit that he was acting strange, but there was something about the smell of flowers and oil and metal that was getting him riled up...full of excitement and want.

Al wanted to live his own life and be with the girl he cared about. Ed wanted the same thing…only he was lucky enough to have his girl right in front of him and not miles away in another country. Ed didn't have to worry about his little brother anymore. Now, he could worry about himself and the girl who smelled of flowers and grease. Winry's declaration that Ed was now taller than her only encouraged the sixteen year old to finally make his move.

After all, height always gave him confidence.

"I guess I'm telling you now because it feels right. We're alone…I'm not going anywhere…and you smell so good…"

Each word from Ed's mouth had Winry breathing heavier and heavier, her chest rising and falling, almost brushing against Ed as he inched closer. His lips left her shoulder, his cheek brushing hers as he rose up to his full height and looked down at her. Winry could smell the muted aroma of gravy and potatoes on Ed's breath as it fanned across her face.

He was leaning in closer…his lips pursing…just a little bit closer…

"Ouch!" Winry hollered, her body jerking forward so that her head bumped painfully into Ed's chin. The striking bitter scent of burnt skin filled the air between the teenagers as Winry cradled her left hand against her chest. "Fucking iron." she grumbled, furious that she had clumsily touched the hot tool just when Ed was finally going to kiss her.

"Here." Ed said, taking Winry's hand in his and blowing softly on the small burn. He examined the patch of pink skin with a critical eye before offering Winry a small, comforting grin. "Should get a cold bandage on that." he remarked.

"Yeah." was all Winry could manage to say, loosing herself in Ed's dark golden eyes…and he was leaning in again…

"Brother! Winry! We're home! Where are you guys!"

Al's calls of greeting were all it took to break the spell that had settled over Ed and Winry. Ed released Winry's had and took a hasty step back. Distantly, they could hear Al and Pinako clamoring through the house, the elder woman complaining of how inconsiderate Ed was to not come and help them carry their parcels.

"Um…I better get something on this burn." Winry mumbled.

"Yeah…I better go and see what the old hag wants."

"Sure." Winry nodded as she took several steps away from Ed, her mind so preoccupied that she forgot to hit Ed for his rude comment about her grandmother.

She had almost kissed Ed.

Ed had almost kissed her.

"So, I'll talk to you later." Ed said as he slowly made his way out of the workshop. With each step that the teenage alchemist took away from the young automail mechanic, the tension between the pair became more and more palpable. Something had changed dramatically between Ed and Winry. It wasn't something that could be fixed or something that should never have happened. This change was inevitable and had been progressing ever since the pair had hit adolescence. Winry hadn't been anticipating it, but she knew it was there all the same. And now, Ed had nearly kissed her, told her she smelled nice, nuzzled her flushed skin and caressed her shoulder with his dry lips.

Winry regarded her small burn, the wretched injury that had interrupted what might have been her first kiss with Edward Elric, and cursed it. If she had only known that it would be a few hours before that first kiss actually came to be, she might not have dabbed cold water onto the tender flesh with such annoyed aggression.

* * *

_And that was_ **Smell**. _Not as steamy as_ **Touch**, _but it's working more as foreplay for the eventual smut-tastic fluffiness that will occur in _**Taste**.

_Thanks to all of my readers and reviewers._

_As always, reviews are welcomed and appreciated. No flames, please and thank you!_

**Giant Nickel**


	4. Taste

_Discalimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemsit._

**A/N:** _Well, this is a super fast update! I would like to say that all the credit for this speedy update rests solely on my shoulders, but that is not the case. The absolutely amazing response I received for my previous chapter totally inspired me and this next chapter spilled from my imagination like water from a fountain. So this chapter is for you, the readers and the reviewers. Without you, I doubt that this chapter would be...or at least, it certainly wouldn't have been uploaded as quickly as it has. _

_Thank you so much! _

_Enjoy!_

* * *

**Taste**

Winry paced back and forth, her automail manuals untouched, her sketches scattered and her thoughts jumbled as she desperately sought relief from her anxiousness. She had tripped over the same wrench six times and rather than pick it up and put it somewhere safe, the sixteen year old had merely cursed softly before throwing her beloved tool one of the most hateful glares she could muster.

This was ridiculous!

It had been five hours since the almost kiss in the workshop. Five hours since Al and Granny had returned from their night out. Five hours of Ed completely avoiding his one-time mechanic and acting as if he hadn't put the moves on her. How could that jackass act as if nothing had _almost_ happened?!

* * *

_After bandaging her burn, Winry had calmed herself enough to enter the living room and join her family as if her heart was not thudding against her chest as rapidly as a hummingbird's wing. Pinako was standing in the centre of the room, smoking her pipe and barking orders at Ed to move this box here and that box there. The boy in question grumbled, cursed and whined as he followed the old woman's orders, hefting the boxes to wherever Pinako demanded. Realizing that now was not the time to confront Ed about their almost kiss, Winry made her way to the kitchen for a glass of water. She was a little surprised to find Al sitting at the table and browsing through a newspaper. Upon hearing Winry enter, the fifteen year old looked up and greeted her. _

_"Brother doesn't sound too happy." the boy remarked._

_"Neither does Granny." Winry retorted. "Do you want some water, Al?" _

_"Sure." _

_Winry made quick work of filling two glasses with fresh cold water before joining Al at the table._

_"What are reading?" she asked._

_"Look at this!" Al declared delightfully as he shifted the paper so that Winry could read the article that had her friend so excited. "It's an ad for Central University. They're getting ready to take early applications for the next semester."_

_"Are you going to apply that soon?" Winry wondered._

_"Yep! I won't be able to stay in Xing as long as I'd like, and I'll have to reschedule my travel plans, but I really want to go, Winry."_

_"But Al, aren't you a little…um, too young." Winry said delicately. Now, if she had made that remark to Ed, the elder Elric would have gone on a tirade on discrimination against the youth of Amestris and been insulted in the lack of faith Winry had shown by daring to make such a statement. Al, however, was very, very different from his older brother. The younger Elric just grinned softly as he folded the paper. _

_"I'll have to take a test to prove I have the aptitude to take university courses, and I'll need a few recommendations, too. But I'm sure that a reference from Amestris's President should be enough to get me in."_

_"And what about money?" Winry asked, intrigued that Al had seriously given thought on how to go about gaining access to Central University. _

_"Well…I'm sure brother will help. You think Ed will help with my tuition, don't you?" Al asked, his demeanor suddenly overcome with worry._

_" 'Course I'll help." Ed said, startling the pair at the kitchen table. He was reclined against the wall, his arms crossed and eyes focused solely on his brother. "So, when does the school year start?" Ed asked._

_"Uh…um, in three months." Al stuttered, surprised himself that Ed wasn't putting up more of a fight. _

_"Well, that doesn't give you much time to study. And if you want to see the Bean Girl you'll have to leave a little sooner than planned…two weeks I think. You'll have to call President Shithead tomorrow and tell him you want the reference…no, better call Hawkeye instead. She'll make sure that the paperwork actually gets done. And then we'll have to go to the campus and check it out. You'll need somewhere to stay too…"_

_"That…that sounds like a lot of work." Al said, his tone soft and a little frightened. _

_"It's no big deal." Ed replied flippantly with a wave of his hand. "Come on, we need to go over everything. Up to our room!" _

_Al didn't dare question his brother. Moving smoothly and walking with only a slight limp, Al took his cane and made his way out of the kitchen and up to the Elric's bedroom. Ed didn't move from his place against the wall, his eyes focused completely on Winry as she fidgeted under his gaze. Her fingers brushed against the bandage on her left hand as she waited with baited breath for Ed to say something._

_"How's your hand?" he asked. _

_It wasn't the remark she had been expecting and that really irked the young woman. Still, Winry couldn't control the churning unease that was rolling in her lower stomach so she opted out of yelling at Ed and instead decided to be civil._

_"It's better now." she replied lamely. "Um…Ed…about before…"_

_"Can't talk now, Winry." Ed said casually as he took an apple from the fruit bowl on the table. "Gotta get Al ready for school."_

_"But that won't be for…"_

_"No time!"_

_And with that flippant remark, Ed walked out of the kitchen, his annoying crunching as he at the apple pounding in Winry's ears. Furious, Winry took a long gulp of water, the cold liquid tasting like lead in her mouth. _

* * *

The very thought of Ed's disregard made Winry's belly churn and her heart ache. As if that scene in the kitchen wasn't bad enough, the rest of the evening saw Ed continuing to avoid Winry and only encouraging her anger. He and Al had holed themselves up in their bedroom and when they were called down for tea and cookies while they listened to their favorite radio serial, Ed not only didn't speak a word to Winry, but he also rejected his normal spot beside the young woman and instead sat on the floor. Throughout the hour, Winry kept shooting Ed anxious glances, distracting herself so much that she burned her tongue with her tea more than once. When the program was over and Ed began to chat incessantly about the believability of the plot and characters from the serial, Winry finally cracked.

She slammed her teacup down, stood suddenly from the couch, shot Ed a look so lethal that the young man actually appeared to have frozen in a death grip, and stomped upstairs to her bedroom, making sure that each of her steps resounded through the house and that her slamming door shook the foundation.

That had been an hour ago.

Since making her grand exit, Winry had tried to work on her automail blueprints, tired reading one of her automail manuals, and even tried to distract herself by polishing some of her tools. Everything failed and so the sixteen year old had started pacing, thinking of all the ways she would make Ed pay for acting like an inconsiderate jerk.

Winry had just tripped over the wrench for the seventh time when there was a knock at her door. Startled, and suspecting that it was her grandmother come to see why she was acting like a child, Winry grumbled under her breath as she made her way towards her bedroom door and opened it with unenthusiastic grace.

She didn't expect to find Ed on the other side of the door.

She didn't expect his eyes to be dark pools of molten gold as they stared at her with raw, unmasked intensity.

She didn't expect Ed to march into her room, close the door behind him and take her by her upper arms so that he could pull their bodies together.

She didn't expect him to kiss her.

The kiss was harsh and fast and, to be perfectly honest, very clumsy. When Ed had entered the room his lips had been pressed in a grim line and he hadn't relaxed his mouth enough when he took Winry's lips against his own. Winry, who had been taken completely by surprise, had her mouth half open in a protest when Ed kissed her, leaving her so shocked that she didn't respond at all.

Ed held her arms captive in his tight grip and his whole body was tense with panic and Winry simply didn't know how to react. Both teens were on edge, their bodies hard and unrelenting, unable to relax and enjoy the moment as their lips found each other.

Ed broke away first, licking his lips as he realized that he hadn't puckered, and steeled his nerves to keep his eyes focused on Winry so that he might gauge her reaction. As for Winry, the young woman needed a moment to collect her thoughts. Her lips felt as if they had been kissed, but the kiss was certainly not what she had imagined it would be.

The feeling was strangely…anticlimactic.

"Wow." Winry commented as she sucked her bottom lip between her teeth, as if inspecting her lips for changes after that rushed, surprising kiss. "As far as first kisses go, Ed…that kinda sucked."

"Well fuck, it was my first try!" Ed argued with righteous ire as a blush colored his nose.

"And what the hell makes you think you'll get another try?" Winry asked. She had her answer when Ed leaned forward again, his lips pursed and ready for the kiss. Winry, who still wasn't prepared for Ed's sudden interest in kissing, hadn't been ready for another of Ed's advances and so her lips were firmly closed as the alchemist initiated their second kiss. The fact that Ed's lips were a little more relaxed certainly heightened the experience, and when he took a moment to softly take his lips off hers, just enough so that Winry could purse her own lips and actually receive Ed as he kissed her a third time, Winy was easily consumed by the taste of his lips agasint hers.

When Winry finally returned Ed's kiss, the young man's entire body fell lax. His grip on her arms loosened and instead of holding her to him as if she might run away, Ed now used his touch to coax her closer. Winry's arms rose and she lightly cupped Ed's sides, her fingers spread wide to feel his warm, firm body through his shirt.

Winry's lips began to respond eagerly to Ed's timid yet persistent exploration. She was just beginning to find a comfortable, and tingly, rhythm when Ed took her completely by surprise and sucked her upper lip between his own, ending that delightful little surprise with a shy brush of his tongue to the corner of her mouth.

When they released themselves from their kiss, the pair was a little surprised to discover that they had locked themselves in an unyielding embrace, Winry's arms clasped firmly around Ed's waist while he held her against his chest by her arms. Both were breathing rapidly, stunned by what they had just done for the _second_ time in a matter of moments.

Winry found herself drowning in Ed's golden gaze, but she wouldn't allow her hormones to get the better of her when she was still furious with Ed. And so, doing her best to ignore the fact that each of her breaths caused her breasts to rub against Ed's chest and her nipples to press painfully against her bra, Winry took one small step back.

"I'm mad at you." she announced.

"Then let me do one more thing before you start yelling at me." Ed requested, not even bothering to wait for Winry's permission before he was kissing her again, one hand reaching up to cup the back of her head so that she was unable to escape. Winry didn't even think of protesting, returning Ed's kiss with all of the passion and anger that she had welling up within her. When Ed's tongue traced her lips without a trace of timidity, Winry opened her mouth and welcomed him, determined to show Ed that he wasn't the only one who could kiss with ardent fervor.

Ed was momentarily surprised when Winry opened her mouth for him, urging his tongue to discover the secrets she kept. Being a child prodigy, Ed didn't argue. He had his chance to taste her and he took it, sweeping his tongue eagerly into Winry's mouth.

She tasted of cinnamon and lemon, reminding Ed of apple pie and lemonade on hot summer days.

He hadn't come to her room with the sole intention of kissing her. After she had stormed off to her room Ed stayed downstairs with Pinako and Al as long as he felt was discrete before clomping upstairs himself. He had only meant to talk to her, to explain why he had been avoiding her since their encounter in the workshop…but when she had opened the door all of Ed's higher thought process shut down and he simply acted on instinct and his instinct was _insisting_ that he kiss Winry.

Ed was glad he had listened.

As for the young mechanic, she found herself lost in Ed's kiss. What had started as a way of showing the arrogant alchemist that she could stand toe-to-toe against him, even in a kiss, had quickly become a needy embrace, her mouth molding and head tilting to perfectly accommodate Ed and his fabulous tongue. As he kissed her, Winry could taste the refreshing wash of mint that Ed always put in his tea and just a tang of cinnamon from the cookies that he'd all but inhaled.

He was delicious.

It wasn't until Ed moaned with great delight that Winry realized what she had done.

Getting completely lost in the moment, in his kiss and his smell and his taste, Winry's hands had wandered from Ed's sides to completely wrap around his back to fall lower and lower…and lower…until she was firmly grasping Ed's ass, squeezing him and pulling him closer.

Gasping at her actions, Winry pulled her mouth away from Ed, hoping to gather her thoughts. Instead, Ed's lips found her throat, kissing her neck with just as much passion as he had kissed her mouth.

"Mmm…Winry you taste so good." Ed ground out, his lips finding her earlobe and sucking it between his teeth. The action caused Winry to squeeze Ed's buttocks again and she was surprised to find that she had yet to release Ed's rather delectable bottom from her hold.

Her hands fell to her sides.

"Aw, Win…" Ed drawled as his own hands left her arms to slink around her back and rest comfortably on her rear end. "Why'd you let go?"

"Ed, we can't do this."

"I think we can."

"But Ed…" Winry never got the chance to finish her sentence because Ed was kissing her again, savagely and yet gently, coaxing her to forget every word she had planned on saying. While Winry was trying to decide if she should be mad at Ed for ignoring her, kissing her, groping her ass or all three, Ed decided to take a few steps forward causing Winry to trip, for the eighth time, over her wrench and fall haphazardly onto her bed, Ed following her down.

The jostle of the fall caused the teenagers' lips to smack apart, but Ed was soon kissing her again, each kiss gaining in confidence and passion. He couldn't get enough of her fabulous taste or grasp enough of her warm, soft body. His hands continued to mold her bottom, and when Winry continued to moan in delight, he decided to push his luck and take things a step further.

After all, Edward Elric always took the risky way.

At first he laid his hands on her hips, his fingers spreading wide to appreciate their lush fullness before slowly dragging them upwards, appraising her narrow waist until one daring hand, his right hand, reached out and hovered for only a moment before cupping one of Winry's heaving breasts.

It was everything Ed had imagined!

The mound was soft and pliable with the nipple hardening under his palm and Winry groaning as he took his time lovingly caressing her. If he had been paying more attention instead of loosing himself in his victory of finally touching a female's breast, Ed might have noticed that Winry's own hands were trialing up his back, momentarily feeling the planes of his muscles, gently tickling the nape of his neck before her fingers became lost in his hair…

"OUCH!" Ed hollered when Winry yanked mercilessly on his braid, succeeding in pulling out several blond hairs. Ed completely disengaged himself from Winry, falling beside her on the bed as he cradled his stinging scalp. "What the fuck was that for, woman?!" he demanded through grit teeth.

"Just who the hell do you think you are?" Winry demanded, her tone full of just as much irritation as Ed's.

"What are you one about?"

"This!" Winry cried, gesturing between herself and Ed as she sat up to loom over the boy beside her. "You come home after getting your arm and leg back, act all nice to me, give me the odd touch or hug, almost kiss me and then for the rest of the night you avoid me like the plague and then you jump me in my room and act as if I should be grateful. What the hell?!"

"Win…"

"Why have you been avoiding me all night?" Winry interrupted, wanting to know more than anything why Ed had acted like such a jerk one minute and a hormonal teenager the next.

"And how did you want me to act?" Ed asked.

"Like something happened."

"But that's just it. _Nothing_ happened! I almost kissed you in the workshop, but I never actually did it. There was no reason to act any differently because I _didn't_ kiss you."

"But…"

"I'm not gonna act awkward around my brother and your grandmother for something that _almost_ happened." Ed explained as he sat up on his elbows. Their faces were so close. "Now, at least I have a reason to act guilty."

Ed kissed her again, only this kiss was less raunchy and more romantic. There was no devilish tongue or groping hands, just a firm pressing of lips that expressed more feeling between the two teenagers than words ever could.

When they broke apart, Winry licked her lips, tasting Ed on her and finding him looking up at her with intense golden eyes. Her heart melted and Winry couldn't find the strength to stay mad at Ed. She did, however, have one more question for the boy beside her.

"So…are you gonna say it?" she asked with a teasing tone.

"Say what?" Ed asked with genuine confusion.

"Come on, Ed, say that you love me." Winry instructed, her voice still light and teasing, but tinged with a seriousness that made Ed's palms sweat.

"Do you really want me to say that?" Ed asked, his voice quiet and frightened.

Winry knew that making such an admission would be difficult for Ed. Love always was difficult for the young alchemist, and Winry was willing to be patient with him, but she felt that, at this moment, when they were alone and had no worry of being interrupted, that he should have the courage to tell her how he felt.

"Come on, Ed, just say it."

"Do I have to?"

"Ed! Do you honestly think I'd let you get to second base with me without expecting something in return? Equivalent exchange, alchemy freak."

Ed looked up at Winry, surprised that she had actually used his own alchemy theories against him. However, she had also mentioned that he had, indeed, got to second base with her, touching her ass and breast, and the thought caused the sixteen year old to do a very sixteen year old thing.

He smiled with gloating pride.

"And get that shit-eating grin off your face." Winry ordered, although she was mirroring that same grin.

"Why don't you make me?" Ed challenged. The hot look in his eyes made Winry's breasts ache and before she had time to question herself, she leaned down and took Ed's mouth with hers, initiating a kiss for the first time since Ed had charged into her room. Ed fell down, his arms wrapping around Winry's shoulders so that she was nestled nicely on top of him, her finger tips tracing his jawbone. The embrace, just as before, quickly became heated and before either teenager knew it, Winry's hands were squeezing Ed's bottom and both of Ed's hands were delightfully occupied with caressing Winry's breasts.

They broke apart and Winry began to kiss Ed's neck, taking her time as she left stark red marks that would brand him as hers just as effectively as automail.

She couldn't get enough of his taste.

"I love you, Winry." Ed sighed, his voice a muddled tone of desire and sincerity. Winry looked up from Ed's neck and kissed his nose, delighting in the way his face scrunched up and his eyes narrowed.

"I love you, too."

* * *

_Whew! That's a whole lota kissing going on!_

_So, just because Ed and Winry have finally kissed and finally told each other how they feel doesn't mean I'm finished with them yet. There's still one more scent to go, and while Ed and Winry have certainly been touching each other a lot in this chapter, things are going to go up a notch in the last chapter of_ I Sense You Here.

_Once again, a big thanks and big hugs for all of my readers and reviewers. Remember, this chapter was because of you!_

_As always reviews are welcomed and appreciated. No flames, please and thank you!_

**Giant Nickel**


	5. Touch

_

* * *

_

Disclamer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

**A/N:**_ Well, this is it, the final chapter. This is also the reason that this fic eventually got its 'M' rating. For those who have been diligently reading my fic, I want to extend a great big thank you. I know that it took me much longer to get this final chapter up then my previous chapters, but a part of me didn't want this fic to end. I really like how 'I Sense You Here' turned out, particularly this chapter, and it was a little hard to let it go. However, it is finished now and I think I've ended it on a perfect note. Now, as always, I have done my best to keep Ed and Winry in character, but I urge my readers to remember that by the time this fic takes place, Ed and Winry have been in a relationship for six months and as such, they would become a little more candid and open with one another. I stress 'little' just because we know that Ed will always be awkward and shy around Winry, even after they're old and grey and have had five kids and been married for fifty years._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

**Touch**

The train's whistle blared, echoing around the mountains of Resembool and announcing that it was the last call for all passengers. The few people that were gathered on the rickety wooden platform gave their loved ones quick final hugs before scurrying onto the train that was slowly starting to chug away.

Winry waved frantically, a glowing smile on her face and a light chuckle escaping past her lips.

"Bye, Granny! Bye, Den!" she hollered over the thundering hiss of steam. She watched as her grandmother and dog were momentarily obscured by thick grey clouds, but when the steam receded they were exactly where she had left them, standing on the corner of the platform, Granny smoking her pipe and Den sitting obediently beside her.

"You take care, Winry! You too, short stuff!"

"Knock it off, old woman! I'm taller than Winry now!" Ed cried as he leaned out of the train window, squishing Winry against the frame.

"Ed! Back off!"

"Not until I settle some things with the witch!"

"Call when you get to Rush Valley!" Pinako instructed, ignoring Ed's violent threats and zealous fury. It was always so much fun to piss off the young alchemist.

"I promise!" Winry responded, also ignoring Ed's display of ire.

"Don't forget to give Al the care-package when you stop in Central. And Ed!"

The firm demand in the old woman's cry halted Ed's mumbled rants and angry fidgeting. He stuck his head further out the window to catch Pinako's message, his golden eyes held captive by her stern black ones.

Whatever Pinako was about to say, it was serious.

"Don't be an idiot!"

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?!" Ed demanded, enraged that the words of wisdom he thought he was about to receive were nothing more than a cryptic warning veiled in an insult. If not for Winry's strong tug on his ear, Ed was sure that he would have bound out of the window to shake the old woman until she fully explained herself. His cries of indignation could still be heard over the roar of the engine, echoing around the mountains long after the train had left the boarders of Resembool.

Pinako just sighed as she watched the train chug away, taking her very young granddaughter and her very young granddaughter's equally very young boyfriend away from her watchful eye. Taking a long drag from her pipe and patting Den on the head, the old woman turned away from the platform and began to make her way to the market, the family dog close behind her.

Six months.

It had been six months since Ed and Winry had descended from the second floor of the Rockbell house, their hair and clothing too neat not to be suspicious, their hands clasped tightly in the others', and announced that they had worked out their differences so much so that they had decided to become a couple.

Truthfully, Pinako had thought that the pair were quite cute and a long time in coming. Instead, she had said that the two looked like a couple of guilty teenagers trying to cover up the fact that there had been less talking and more touching upstairs in Winry's bedroom.

Through the blushing and the blustering, Pinako and Al had assured Ed and Winry that they had their blessings. After more blushes and more stuttering and more excuses, the house had settled and Ed and Winry began a new chapter in their relationship.

That, however, didn't discourage Pinako from having 'The Talk' with both teenagers, ensuring to her satisfaction that Ed and Winry knew all of the repercussions, both good and bad, that would befall them should they rush into the physical parts of their new relationship.

With the two of them sitting before her, Winry picking at her fingernails and Ed doing his best to look completely uninterested, Pinako had warned them that she would not tolerate two horny teenagers in her house having sex in every available corner. They were not to be found sleeping in the same bed, they were not to be left alone in the house, and they most definitely were not to be found with their hands where they shouldn't be. Looking as if they wanted to melt into the couch, Ed and Winry had quickly agreed to Pinkao's rules so that they could escape her lecture and quietly die of embarrassment.

Privately, Pinako had confided in Winry that she trusted her judgment completely. Privately, Pinako told Ed that if he got Winry pregnant before the young girl was ready that she would chop off his favorite bit and feed it to the wolves.

As far as Pinako knew, the lecture and threats had worked as Ed and Winry had kept their relationship strictly to passionate kissing with perhaps a little heavy petting when they were feeling rebellious.

That, however, was soon to change and Pinako knew it.

With Al gone away to university, Ed had started to feel restless, and since Winry was working to complete her mechanic's license, the blond alchemist sometimes couldn't even coax his girlfriend around to keeping him occupied. Ed had gone to visit his brother in Central a few times, stopping in to say hello to all of his friends who also resided in the capital city, but he never liked to stray too far or too long away from Winry and so remained anchored in Resembool until the day Winry announced that she needed to go to Rush Valley for six weeks to complete the practicum of her license qualifications as well as get her apprenticeship papers.

Ed had eagerly jumped on the chance to go on a little trip, and rewarded Winry with a shattering kiss when she told him that they could also take some time to stop in Central for a few days, and that after she completed her tests they might make a detour to Dublith for a few weeks to visit Ed's teacher.

In a matter of weeks the tickets had been bought, accommodations had been arranged, dates had been set and trunks had been packed. Pinako was glad to see her granddaughter and surrogate grandson so excited. They were growing up into fine adults, they _were_ adults, and as such, it was only a matter of time before adult urges began to rise to the surface.

Pinako had approved of the trip, helped to pay for the train tickets, and even bought both Ed and Winry some knew clothes for their little adventure. She was happy with everything…

Well, almost everything.

There was the little matter of the sleeping arrangements on the train.

Since it would take several days to reach Rush Valley, Pinako had offered to buy the pair a couple of private compartments for their journey. What she hadn't expected was for there to be only one available private compartment on the train, and since it was the only train that would ensure Ed and Winry made it to Rush Valley on time for Winry to complete her tests, Pinako had begrudgingly paid for the single compartment, a feeling of dread and loss churning in her belly.

"_You don't have to worry, Grandma._" Winry had assured the night before she left. "_There's two beds in the compartment, bunk beds, actually. Ed will be on top and I'll be on the bottom – Wait! That didn't come out right!_"

Although Winry had done her best to quell Pinako's worries, nothing could soothe the wave of melancholy that draped over the old Rockbell woman like a woolen shawl.

It's not that she didn't _want_ Ed and Winry to have sex. It's not that she didn't _expect_ Ed and Winry to have sex. It's not that she didn't _expect_ Ed and Winry _wanted_ to have sex really, really badly. It was that, as soon as that threshold was crossed, Winry wouldn't be hers anymore. She would belong to Edward Elric even more completely than she belonged to him now. Sex was the last step into becoming a whole adult, and when that happened to Winry, she wouldn't need her old grandmother as much as she used to.

Letting go was never easy, but it was something Pinako recognized as a rather sad fact of life.

Besides, if Pinako wanted to have great-grandchildren someday, and if she wanted her granddaughter to be deliriously happy, the old woman knew that she had to let Winry go and make whatever decisions she might make in that single compartment on that long, long train ride.

"Still," she grumbled under her breath, "I wish I hadn't provided the perfect opportunity."

* * *

Winry pulled Ed by the ear down the carpeted aisle as if he were some troublesome child.

"Winry! Winry! Dammit, Winry, let the fuck go!"

"Not when you ask like that, mister." she responded, her voice perfectly impersonating that of a disgruntled mother. "Honestly, Ed, she is my grandma, you could, oh, I don't know, try to be a little nice to her for my sake."

"Then she can damn well be a little nice to me."

"And I suppose taking in you and your brother since you had no home and no caretakers was her being an evil old had?" Winry argued.

Ed's eyes flicked down to his boots in shame. He knew that without Pinako, he and Al would have likely died a long time ago. She was gruff, but Pinako did care for the Elric brothers in her own strange way.

"I just don't get why she has to be a bitch all the time." he grumbled.

"Because that's the side you bring out in women." Winry teased as she released Ed's ear. "Well, here it is. I can't wait to see inside."

Ed looked up and found that he and Winry were standing in front of a cherry oak door with the number '18' emblazoned in gleaming ebony on the fine polished surface. The door knob was gold plated and very ornate. Even the compartment key, which was solid gold, had floral carvings and a black silk ribbon tied to its end.

'_This must be the best room on the train._' Ed thought, his hand coming up to appreciate the smooth surface of the wooden door. Even through his gloves he could feel the warmth of the wood tickle his fingertips, suspecting that there must be a heater in the room. '_Pinako must have spent a fortune on this. I really should thank her…_'

"Here we go." Winry announced with giddy excitement as she twisted the key in the lock and pushed open the door. She took a quick look at Ed before stepping over the threshold, her blue eyes twinkling and ushering him to follow her.

"Where's the light?" Ed asked, seeing nothing but dark lumpy shadows.

"Here it is."

Winry flicked the wall switch on and took in her surroundings, her jaw dropping slightly.

"Wow…" she sighed. "It's…"

"Small." Ed finished, crossing the room in six strides so that he could pull the heavy velvet curtains aside and let the sun shine through the window, fully illuminating the private compartment that must have cost Pinako a small fortune but that surely wasn't even worth the cost of a basket of vegetables.

The room was about the size of a walk-in-closet. There were two bunk beds built into the wall, a threadbare carpet of indistinguishable color decorating the floor, a deflated looking cushioned chair pushed against the corner by the window, and a small, rust-spotted radiator that clunked every few minutes as it filled the room with rather unbearable dry heat.

"Let's open the window." Winry reasoned, doing her best to keep her voice cheerful.

"Winry, this room is a fucking nightmare." Ed commented, disgusted that Pinako had paid good money for such lousy accommodations. Someone at the ticket office was going to pay when they reached Rush Valley.

"Don't be so dramatic. It's not so bad. The bed linens are clean, and we get fresh dressing gowns and look!" Walking to the door that stood across from the bunk beds, Winry opened it and peeked inside. "We have our own private water-closet with shower. See, it's not so bad."

Ed looked at Winry disbelievingly and also took a peek inside of the water-closet.

"Winry, the toilet is _in_ the fucking shower!"

"Ed…"

"And where's the sink? How I am supposed to fucking shave if there's no fucking sink?"

"First of all, you don't have enough peach fuzz to shave, and secondly the brochure said that a porter comes to all the compartments every morning with a jug of cleaning water and warm towels. Can't you just overlook the small stuff and have a good time?!"

"Well, that's gonna be a little hard, Winry, since everything in this damn room is so damn small!"

"Moron!"

"Aggravating nag!"

Ed could feel his teeth grinding against each other, his body going stiff as he fought desperately to control himself. The room was small, too small. It was so small that he couldn't make enough room between himself and Winry so that they weren't touching. As it was, and as it always was whenever they got into a heated fight, the two teenagers were staring intensely at each other, their chests rubbing together as they breathed angrily. Ed could feel Winry's nipples pebble and his own responded in kind, irritated by the coarse woolen sweater that Pinako had forced him to wear. Each breath Winry took caused Ed's bangs to brush against his flushed brow, encouraging him to get a little closer, press against her a little tighter.

Ed knew what his body wanted. He could already feel the stirrings of heat and excitement collecting in his belly to gather lower and drive him out of his mind with want for Winry. It had been like this for months. Months of wanting and needing but of always, always refusing.

Pinako would kill him.

'_But Pinako's not here._' a devilish voice that sounding eerily like President Shit-face reasoned in the dark corners of Ed's mind. Although Ed didn't like to think that his mind was becoming as corrupt as Mustang's, he found a way to compromise and get part of what he wanted without feeling too much like a horny teenager, which is exactly what he was.

Swooping down fast and hard, Ed kissed Winry fiercely, his hands coming around the mechanic's frame and pulling her so tightly against him that he could feel every part of her body and she could feel every part of his.

He was stiff and hard, she was soft and lush.

Tongues were soon fighting, hands were quickly roaming, caressing and grabbing and pinching at everything the other offered. Ed felt Winry's fingers smoothly trace his jaw, pinch his nipples through his sweater, tangle in his hair, and teasingly brush against his throbbing groin. Ed, in turn, gave Winry as good as she gave him, squeezing her breasts, kissing her neck, and pinching her bottom before one hand found its way to the alluring heat that made him mindless and made her moan with desperate want.

Edward Elric and Winry Rockbell were passionate.

They were young and in love and for the first time in six long months, they were alone.

Alone.

Despite Pinako's warnings about wandering hands, Ed and Winry had occasionally indulged their curiosity, learning where they could touch that made the other cry our or moan, memorizing when hard pressure or teasing tickles were the best advance, kissing every inch of bare flesh that was offered to their seeking lips. It was always somehow guarded though, always through constricting clothing and nervous haste, always with the fear that someone would catch them.

But there was no one on this train to disturb them…

No one to stop them if they tried…

Ed didn't even realize that he had been moving until Winry cried out in pain against his mouth and a heavy clunk sounded throughout the small room.

"Ow!"

"Sorry, Win." Ed whispered, kissing his girlfriend's temple. In his blind walking, Ed had backed Winry up into the bunk beds, her head thumping on the board that separated one bunk from the other.

The sudden interruption of their frenzied caresses made Ed realize a few rather important things. One, was that he had really lost himself in Winry's embrace. Two, was that he had one hand holding Winry's bottom while the other was harshly rubbing between her legs. And three, Ed had an erection so painful that he was sure the agony was worse than automail surgery.

Looking down at Winry, Ed could see that she was also coming to realize what it was they had almost done, the flush of ardor that stained her cheeks soon becoming a glowing blush of nerves. She wasn't breaking away from him, though, or asking him to step aside. In fact, the hand that wasn't cradling the bump on her head was softly fluttering down his chest, going lower and a little lower until the underside of her fingers were brushing against the bulge straining against his trousers.

"Winry!"

Ed said a little louder than he meant, placing his arms on her shoulders and stepping back, though he only succeeded in getting an arm's length away before his back slammed into the opposite wall.

"Ed, what's wrong?" she asked, her cheeks pink and her blue eyes still twinkling with an open invitation.

"Nothing." he answered automatically, though there were a myriad of things wrong in his frantic, seventeen year old mind.

It wasn't that he never thought about making love to Winry. In truth, he thought about it far too much, even more than he thought about alchemy. However, out of respect for Pinako, and out of his deep regard for Winry and her readiness, Ed never went farther than a grope over her bra or a thrilling feel of her bare bum if he was feeling dangerous. But now, they were alone, the only barrier standing between them their own doubts and fears.

And at the moment, Ed was fearing that he might be pushing Winry into doing something she didn't want. Perhaps banging her head against the bed was a sign. Sure, he was as horny as hell, and would have to make an excuse for Winry to leave the room so he could take care of himself, but being ready to pounce on someone didn't mean it was the right thing to do. It would be better to let Winry take the lead in all of this, and so Ed removed his hands from her shoulders and crossed them over his chest as he tried to control his breathing and hope that she didn't pay attention to his all too obvious arousal.

Winry was holding her hand over her heart, looking at the ugly carpet as she regained her control before even daring to look at Ed. She looked confused, perhaps even a little unsure and hurt, but the moment was fleeting and she was soon fanning herself and sighing contentedly.

"Well, I'm hungry, and this room is stifling. Do you want to get something to eat?"

"Sure. You go to the dinning car and I'm gonna look for a porter. I just want to make sure that our trunks will be brought to the room. Don't know where we'll put them, but it's good to check all the same."

"Right. I'll see you in the dinning car, then." Winry said, stepping forward to shyly kiss Ed on the cheek before slipping out of the compartment.

Ed sagged along the wall until he was nearly crouched, his chin falling into his chest as he took deep breaths. He had to gain control of himself or he was likely to take Winry whether she wanted him to or not. Although he suspected that she wanted him just as badly, Ed had made up his mind.

This was all going to be up to Winry. If she wanted him to touch her, kiss her, make love to her, then she was going to have to make the first move. It was a resolution that gave Ed the short end of the stick, but it ensured that he didn't hurt Winry and retained his own code of honor.

Running his fingers through his hair and shooting the radiator a murderous glance when it sputtered loudly, Ed stood up and opened the door to the water-closet.

Before going to look for the luggage porter, Ed had to make his acquaintance with the toilet/shower monstrosity.

* * *

Winry quickly checked her reflection in the spoon, examining her teeth to be sure that there was nothing stuck in-between them, assuring herself that she didn't have a ghastly pimple anywhere on her face and making sure that her bangs were falling in just the right way so as to draw attention to her eyes.

'_What am I doing?! I never preen like this! Even back at home I never worried about how I look._' Winry scolded in her mind as she put the spoon back on the table and looked out the window at the passing landscape. She sighed heavily and for the tenth time, looked up and down the aisle. Ed still hadn't joined her and it had been nearly twenty minutes. The waiter was starting to give her queer looks as she protested that she was waiting on an absent boyfriend.

Falling deeply into the cushioned seat, Winry stared at her empty plate, wishing she had a meal in front of her so she could do something with her hands and keep her mind from wandering. As it was, Winry's thoughts were running a marathon, and everything was going back to that single private compartment.

She hadn't wanted to stop.

If she hadn't bumped her head, Winry would have been perfectly happy to let Ed keep on going. She felt tingles as she remembered where he had touched her and how much she wanted him to continue.

After the initial mortification of Pinako's 'no-sex-under-my-roof' speech, Winry had taken her time to seriously consider how far she wanted to take her relationship with Ed. It only took her a month to come to the conclusion that she and Ed were going to be together forever or until one of them killed the other and that thought is what solidified the seventeen year old's decision to one day make love to Ed.

Respecting her grandmother's wishes, Winry never encouraged Ed too much while they were at the Rockbell home, but on this train, in that very small compartment, she and Ed were finally alone. Nothing was stopping them, and she was sure that she had been inviting, encouraging Ed to continue, but he had backed off and Winry couldn't figure out why. After all, Ed was an ordinary seventeen year old guy. He should want to have sex, badly, and especially with a willing partner.

Winry loved it when Ed touched her, and even though they still fought almost constantly, and even though he could still be a perfect asshole, when those tender, heated moments came upon him…well…Ed could be pretty unbelievably romantic and charming when he wanted to. It had to be that damn perfectionist complex of his.

"Hey, Win."

Looking away from the window, Winry regarded the man who sat across from her. Immediately, she could tell that Ed was upset.

"What's wrong?"

"Everyone on this train is a fucking moron." Ed grumbled. "They lost our luggage."

"They what?!" Winry cried, leaning over the table and staring intently at Ed's face.

"They left our luggage back in Resembool." Ed ground out. "I just fought with a porter, a steward and the god damn conductor for the last half hour only to find out that some jackass who claims he hasn't had any sleep in the last two days _thinks_ he may have forgotten our trunks back in Resembool. We have no clothes until we reach Rush Valley."

"Shit." Winry groaned. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm fucking sure, Winry!" Ed screamed, earning the attention and outraged gasps from the others in the dining car.

"Don't get pissy with me, Ed! They lost my clothes, too!"

"I know that!" Ed responded, burying his head into his folded arms as he collapsed on the table. The first thought he had had after learning that the luggage was missing was that Winry would only have one pair of clothes for the next six days. That meant she would want to do things to keep them clean and odor-free, like sleep naked.

Ed groaned again.

"Quit being a baby." Winry lectured as she picked up the menu card and looked over the options. "There's nothing we can do about it so we'll just have to live with it until we get to Rush Valley. We can ask Granny to have our trunks shipped over."

"But Win…"

"Let's stop this, Ed. As much as I love arguing with you, this train is just too small and there aren't enough hiding places where I can cool off after you've pissed me off. So, we're just going to make the best of it. Now shut-up and order something."

"Geez." Ed grumbled as he perused the menu card. "Someone's testy."

Winry clenched her fists, the feel of crinkling paper under her fingers satisfying her anger.

Of course she was testy, she was hot and bothered and it was all Ed's fault! If he would just make a move, undo a button, unhook her bra, even take off one of her socks she could jump him without any doubts as to his desires for their relationship.

"Let's just eat." she sighed.

"Sure. I'm starving."

* * *

Winry stood by the window in her private compartment, relishing in the cool breeze that caressed her face and brought her delicious relief from the unbearable stifling air that continued to spew from the clunking radiator. Winry threw the wretched piece of machinery a hateful glare, pouting like a child who hadn't got her way.

Not only was the private compartment as comfortable as a sardine can, but the train attendants had left their luggage back in Resembool, the food was cold and greasy and the damn radiator in their compartment was busted so that it did nothing but blow dry heat into their stuffy room. In fact, the only compensation that Winry could find was the fact that the shower worked and the complimentary bathrobes were soft.

However, that reminded the young woman of another problem.

She was dressed in a white furry bathrobe and absolutely nothing else and Ed was currently taking a shower and when he came out, he also would likely put on the bathrobe and nothing else.

Could the situation be anymore tempting?

Tapping her foot against the floor, Winry had already made up her mind that tonight was going to be the night. She was seventeen, she was in love and most importantly, she had thought long and hard about what she wanted and what she was ready for.

She was ready for this, and she was certain that Ed was as well.

Dinner had been a tense affair. Whenever Ed so much as looked at Winry he would blush and shovel food down his throat until he choked and made a scene, and when Winry had tried to engage him in an innocent game of footsie as they sat on the observation deck, Ed just buried his nose deeper into a newspaper and ignored her. The rest of the evening proved to be just as troublesome, with Ed avoiding any sort of touch or conversation with his girlfriend in favor of reading the same newspaper three times. Winry finally gave up and instead sought a toolbox so she might be able to tinker with the radiator and keep her mind occupied. In the end, however, she never found a toolbox and the radiator was doing nothing to soothe her hot and bothered condition.

It was so frustrating, but Winry was determined to get Ed to pay attention.

There was no way he didn't want this, he was just being too much of a gentleman, of that the young woman was sure.

Checking her reflection in the window glass, Winry made sure that her hair was ravishingly rumpled, that her eyes had a come-hither allure, and the final touch, her dressing gown was hanging off one shoulder. Listening as the shower was turned off, followed by Ed's curses about the itchy towels, Winry quickly jumped onto the bottom bunk and arranged the blankets around her in what she hoped was an inviting manner and reclined against the pillows.

She had to bite the inside of her cheek when Ed tripped out of the water-closet and landed on her bed, a towel wrapped loosely around his waist and his hair wet and draped across his shoulders.

"Shit." he grumbled before twisting around and discovering that he was facing an enticing Winry in nothing more than a bathrobe.

His jaw dropped as his gaze easily found the swell of her breasts and the beautiful bare curve of her shoulder.

"Hey." she said, her voice husky and inviting. Before Ed knew it, he was leaning close to her, one arm draped across her body and his lips puckering. "Gonna tuck me in?"

"You tease." Ed groaned before bridging the distance and kissing Winry hard and thoroughly, his tongue slipping past her lips to claim her mouth and relishing in the feel of her fingers tangling in his sodden golden hair.

Winry's heart was singing as she kissed Ed, pulling him closer to her so that his damp body was sliding along hers as they slowly descended onto the mattress.

Ed was vaguely aware that he was on top of Winry and that they were on top of a bed and that they were both very nearly naked, but the feel of her lips on his, the way her hair tickled his fingers and how her skin was warm and soft under his hands was just too much for the seventeen year old's eager brain to process.

"Oh, Ed…" Winry sighed, and that single sound was all it took.

Ed's eyes snapped open, the lust-filled haze that had clouded his brain lifted, and he looked down at Winry to find that one of his hands had slipped into her bathrobe and was teasing the pebbly peak of one breast while his lower body had come to settle in between Winry's bent and yielding legs. Her face was flushed, her breath sweet and heavy against his neck, and she was practically begging him to take her.

But that was just it.

She wasn't saying anything.

Did she know what was going to happen if they continued? Did she understand? Because if she didn't, Ed wasn't sure he could live with the guilt. It was better to walk away and have his honor and hers than it was to jump into something that Winry wasn't ready for, no matter how much Ed was.

"Winry…I…goodnight, Winry."

With all of his willpower, Ed pulled himself away from the girl under him, straightened his towel and stood up. Without another word or another glance, Ed turned off the light and lifted himself up to plunk on the top bunk.

Winry lay upon her rumpled bed sheets staring at the bunk above her with incredulous blue eyes.

Did that just happen?

Did Ed just…go to bed?

Feeling her temper quickly get the better of her, Winry pinched the bridge of her nose and began to count backwards from one hundred until she convinced herself to think of what had just happened to make Ed go from hot to cold in a matter of seconds.

They had been making out heavily, as they had occasionally done in the six months they had been together. Ed had been kissing her like a skilled master and for the first time, his bare hand had touched her naked breast. She was encouraging him, kissing him back and opening her legs to cradle his body against hers, giving Ed every physical signal that he was to keep going.

But then she had said his name and then he had stopped…

Winry growled lowly in the back of her throat.

This was so infuriating!

It was obvious that both teenagers wanted to have sex with each other and being stuck in this dinky little train compartment was the perfect opportunity, so why had Ed stopped? It wasn't as if they hadn't talked about…

"Oh…" Winry whispered to herself, her fingers tapping on her bottom lip.

They _hadn't_ talked about it, had they?

Sure, they had said they loved each other and it was painfully obvious that they wanted to always be with one another, but aside from the awkward lecture from Winry's grandmother, she and Ed had never breathed a word about sex, letting their bodies do the talking for them.

Was that all it was?

Did Ed want her permission to make love to her?

She giggled.

How terribly, romantically old fashioned.

Covering her mirthful chuckles by placing a pillow over her head, Winry had to calm down before she could gather her thoughts and formulate a new game plan.

So Ed wanted her to actually say the words?

Well, Winry was in the mood and her boyfriend wasn't going to know what hit him. Deciding to keep her bathrobe loose around her (it wouldn't remain on her for very long, anyway) Winry didn't try to be stealthy as she got up from her bed and heaved herself up onto Ed's bunk.

Naturally, he wasn't asleep.

"Winry, what are you…"

"Ed, are you a total idiot or have you honestly not noticed that I've been trying to seduce you all day?"

"What? You have?" Ed stuttered as he made sure that his bed sheets were keeping him properly covered. After all, he was sleeping in the nude. Suddenly, Winry's words registered in his brain. "Wait. You've been purposely driving me crazy all day with your sexy attitude and that stupid bathrobe?"

"A little slow on the signals, aren't you, Edo?" Winry teased as she hoisted herself fully onto the bed and inched herself towards him, all the while her bathrobe falling more and more around her shoulders and legs. "Much as I appreciate your nobility, Ed, I really do want you to make love to me, so you don't have to keep torturing yourself. You're torturing me, too."

"I didn't mean to." Ed swore as his arms cam up to warp around Winry and pull her closer to his chest. "I just wasn't totally sure if you were ready and I wasn't about to rush you just because I was horny. I care about you too much. Besides, if we had sex and you regretted it because you weren't ready, I don't know if I'd forgive myself."

"Oh, Ed." Winry chided as she gave him a chaste peck on the lips. "Always the self-induced guilt trip, aren't you. All you had to do was ask me and I would have told you that I was ready months ago."

"I figured I'd let you take the reigns on this one."

"Uh huh, and how many times did you have to jack-off in the bathroom as you patiently waited for me to say something?" Winry teased, a slight blush crossing her cheeks.

"You've got a dirty mind and a dirty mouth." Ed retorted, his own blush answering his girlfriend's lewd question.

"And speaking of my dirty mind…Ed, I want to be with you, right now."

Reaching forward, Winry cradled Ed's face in her palms and kissed him hungrily, taking her time, letting her need for him build up slowly.

It was as if an ember was slowly gaining power until it was a flame and soon that flame became a fire, and as Winry's hands pulled away Ed's bed sheet and his hands tugged off her bathrobe, an inferno consumed the two teenagers until they had to touch and taste and smell, and hear and see.

Ed nipped eagerly on Winry's ear, his large calloused hands curving down her spine as he whispered to her roughly.

"Are you _sure_, sure?"

"Ed!" Winry cried in annoyance, one of her hands slipping down his abdomen until they were wrapped around his straining and attentive member. "Shut the fuck up."

And aside from a few harsh groans, delighted sighs and savage moans, Ed didn't say a single word.

Hands and fingers found new, unexplored skin, trekking paths and staking claim on another's body for the first time. It was new and exciting and innocent and beautiful. They memorized each other with their hands, tasted the salt on their skin with teasing tongues, relished their own wonderful scent that wrapped snuggly around them, gloried in the sound of their love-making, and hungrily took in the sight of their lover as they came together.

It was awkward as first times often are, and there were a few times they had to stop and rethink a few small matters, like the fact that the protesting groaning of the upper bunk made them reconsider and move to the bottom bunk, or when Ed had to quickly rummage through his pockets to find a condom. Sometimes Ed squeezed too hard or Winry tugged too sharply, and that first breeching thrust was enough to nearly ruin the mood and make Ed want to give up on the whole endeavor, but Winry held him close, her legs coming up to wrap around his hips and keep him snuggly tucked inside of her.

"We started this and we are going to finish this and it is going to be beautiful. You just need to give me a moment and quit being a god damn martyr all the time." Winry had scolded.

Ed went rigid and almost yelled back at her that lecturing him on his guilt complex when they were having sex was not the best way to coax him to keep going, when she suddenly shifted beneath him and a jolt of electricity shot through his body and instinctively urged him to answer back with a barely controlled thrust.

It wasn't long before Ed and Winry creating a rhythm of their own. He pushed, she pulled, he retreated and she followed and before long, Ed was crying out, gripping Winry's thighs so tightly she knew there would be bruises in a few hours. He called out her name and collapsed on top of her, breathing harshly and kissing her neck as he told her he loved her over and over.

While Winry had not climaxed with Ed, he knew of a few ways to get her over that edge, and before very long, Winry was crying out for Ed into the hot, dark train compartment.

"Wow, Ed." Winry sighed as she curled her back against his chest, relishing in the sweet sticky feel of their sweat slickened skin rubbing together. "Where did you learn to do that finger thing?"

"Read some books." he answered simply before kissing her shoulder.

"And all this time I thought you were reading alchemy manuals." Winry joked. She was starting to feel her eyelids get heavy, the release of having finally made love with Ed settling over her.

"Pinako's going to kill me." Ed groaned, kissing her shoulder again, his voice thick and tired.

Winry took Ed's hand that was cradled under her neck and brought the fingers up to lips to plant a kiss upon his knuckles.

"We need our own place anyway. Now, can we not talk about my grandmother when we're naked in bed. It's kinda ruining the mood."

Ed stilled behind Winry as he considered her words and quickly agreed that he had better direct his thoughts to the saited naked woman in his arms and not her prickly old grandma.

"I think it's a good thing we did this." Winry whispered as sleep began to take her. "Now you won't be as cranky."

"I wasn't cranky, I was horny." Ed corrected.

"Being horny made you cranky. I finally have a way to improve your mood."

"Funny, very funny." Ed commented around a yawn.

"Besides, we need to find a way to conserve our clothing until we get to Rush Valley, and really, staying naked as much as possible is the best way to assure that our clothes don't stink too much over the next six days." Winry teased.

"Insatable woman." Ed groaned. "Let me get some sleep before we do that again."

He was very tired.

"Hey, Ed? What's gonna happen now?"

"Don't know." Ed answered honestly as he rested his chin against Winry's shoulder. "Don't care, really. As long as we're together…"

"No more leaving?" Winry asked, her voice sounding far away.

"Even if I go, I'll just take you with me. I promise."

And with those last words, Winry Rockbell and Edward Elric fell asleep wrapped around each other.

* * *

_So that's the last chapter._

_As far as the sex scene went, I tried to be as tasteful as possible and I think that it came across. I hope with all of my heart that you enjoyed this final chapter._

_Reveiws are welcomed and greatly appreciated. No flames, please and thank you._

**Giant Nickel**


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